Chapter 82

Chapter 82
Kaelen's POV

The first thing I become aware of is the pain. It sits low in my side heavily, like someone drove a metal bar through me and forgot to take it out. I try to shift and instantly regret it.

A sharp ache tears through my ribs and I freeze. For a moment I just lie there staring at the bright ceiling, trying to adjust to it. Then the memories hit.

Vince. The gunshots. Running. Elise falling. Jordan shouting my name. Blood.

My pulse jumps. I force myself upright a few inches before a wave of dizziness crashes into me and I fall back against the pillow with a curse. Then Elise's face comes into focus.

"Kaelen, you are awake!" she calls, a wave of relief washing her face. "You are in the hospital. Try to lay still," she adds, reaching forward like she wants to steady me though she doesn't get up.

I blink at her. "Elise?" My voice comes out rough. "Where is Jordan?"

The question is out before anything else registers. Her expression shifts just slightly but I see it. My chest tightens, my mind formulating the worst possible explanation.
"Where is he? Is he okay?" I ask sharply, the machine beside my bed beeping more as my heartbeats pick pace.

Elise opens her mouth but before she can say anything, the door slams open. I see Mom before I see Dad because she rushes forward, her arms reaching out.

"Kaelen!"

Her voice breaks before she reaches me, and then she is there, her hands on my face, crying already. I barely get time to react before she leans into me carefully, holding me like she is afraid I might disappear if she lets go.

"Oh my God." She whispers. "You are alive. You are really alive."

I don't hug her back. I can't really move any part of my body properly. My eyes flick past her to where my father is standing, just watching with no hint of moving closer. It's like he is assessing damage instead of looking at his son who almost died.

My mother keeps touching my face, my shoulders, my arms, like she is confirming I'm real.

"Are you in pain? Do you need anything? I can call--"

"I'm fine, Mom," I say automatically.

It's not true but it's easier. Then I look at my father properly. Still he doesn't come closer. He just stares at me with that same controlled, suffocating expression he always wears when something has gone wrong under his roof. And then he speaks.

"I warned you," he says coldly. "This is what happens when you don't follow simple rules."

Silence drops into the room so fast that it feels like a physical weight. My mother stiffens immediately. "Not now, William," she says quietly, turning to him. "Please, not now," she pleads. "This is our son. He is alive and that's what matters."

My father doesn't respond but he doesn't look away either. I understand instantly that he hasn't forgiven anything. Our Thanksgiving fight isn't over just because I almost died. Sometimes I wonder if he is capable of any emotion regarding the well being of his family.

My mother turns back to me quickly, forcing softness back into her voice. "We are just so grateful you are okay,” she says, stroking my hair. "We thought we lost you."

I barely hear her. My head is still stuck on one thing. Jordan.

"Elise," I say again, more urgently now. "Where is Jordan? Why isn't he here?" This time my mother pauses too. Both of them look at me, but neither speaks. "Is it because he is still mad at me?" I add, my heart shattering at the thought.

My father's voice cuts in from the side with warning. "He is not here because he is not allowed to."

I freeze. "What?"

"He has very clear instructions to stay away and if he knows what's best for him, he will stay away," he says flatly. "As for you, you should focus more on getting better and moving on. I advise you forget about your... fantasy."

He drags out the word with disgust coating his voice. Something inside me snaps and I refuse to keep it in. "It's not a fantasy, Dad. I love Jordan and nothing you can say or do is going to change that."

"We will wait and see how true that is," he says with finality and steps out, banging the door closed.

No one speaks immediately. My mother looks uncomfortable. Elise looks down for a moment before she looks up again, her eyes filled with pity.

I don't need that. That's not what I want. I want Jordan.

I push myself further upright. Pain shoots through my ribs but I don't care. I turn to Elise because she at least understands this more than Mom, who will end up doing what my father wants.

"I need to see him." She hesitates. "Elise," I say again, tears warming my eyes. "Where is he?"

She finally exhales. "He is at home," she says carefully, looking at my mother briefly. There is regret in her eyes when she says the next words. "But I don't think it's a good idea to see him right now."

I start looking around immediately she says that.
"Where is it my phone?" I try pushing myself up further, gritting my teeth through the pain. "I need my phone."

"Kaelen--"

"I need to call Jordan."

Nothing else matters right now. Not the hospital, not my father, not getting shot. Only Jordan matters. I need to hear his voice.

My mother exchanges a look with Elise before saying quietly, "Your father took it from... the boy earlier."

I stop. "Jordan," I correct. My mother blinks. "His name is Jordan."

For a moment, guilt flashes across her face.
"I'm sorry," she says softly. "But you need to rest, Kaelen. Fighting your father right now will only make things worse."

I let out a hard breath and sink back against the pillows.

Of course he took it because controlling every situation wasn't enough. And of course my mother is still afraid of him.

I turn my head away from her. I don't answer when she speaks, I don't look at her, I don't acknowledge another word she says. The silence stretches until eventually she squeezes my shoulder and sighs.

"Try to get some sleep."

The door opens and closes a few moments later. Only then do I look back into the room. Elise is by the window adjusting the blinds. That's when I notice the wheelchair she is using to get around.

My stomach drops. I stare at it. Then at her.
Then back at it. "Elise..." She turns. "What happened?"

For the first time since waking up, I really look at her. She looks exhausted, paler than usual.

"Were you shot too?"

"No," she looks at the wheelchair. "It's from the fall."

I remember her hitting the pavement then and my chest tightens. "Are you okay?"

The question feels pathetic considering how long it took me to ask it but she waves it off immediately. "I'll be fine."

It is too quick and too casual. Before I can push further, she is already reaching into her pocket.
"What are you doing?"

She doesn't answer. Instead she unlocks her phone and taps. The phone rings as she wheels herself closer, then shoves the screen directly in front of my face.

"Make it quick and as quiet as possible," she says. "We don't have long."

I frown before I look at the screen. For a second I forget how to breathe the moment his face appears. His hair is a mess, his eyes are tired like he hasn't slept properly in days. But he is here, looking at me.

"Jordan!" I breathe, relief flooding every pore in my body.

"Kae," he says quietly, his lips trembling as he speaks. "Kae, you are okay."

I shatter cleanly, hearing his voice say my name like that. I don't think it over. "I love you so so much, J," I say immediately, my voice shaking now. "And I'm going to do everything I can to see you. I promise."

His expression changes instantly, from pain to relief. A quiet laugh escapes him and he wipes at his face.

"I'm the one who should be promising that, you idiot! You are the one on a hospital bed, not me."

I chuckle, despite myself.

"I love you too, Kae," he adds before I can say anything.

The words hit me so hard that I stop breathing. For a second I just stare at him. Then my vision blurs. A tear slips free before I can stop it. God.

I didn't think I would ever hear that again. Not after the breakup. Not after watching him walk away. I thought I had lost the right to hear those words from him. But Jordan says them so easily, like they never left. Like he never stopped feeling them. Like loving me is as simple as breathing.

The relief that crashes through me makes me realize how terrified I have been. Terrified that I was too late, that I broke something I could never fix. Terrified that the last thing Jordan would ever remember from me was the pain I caused him. But he is still here, still loving me.

Somehow, that means more than surviving the bullet ever could.